2006–2009: Beginnings Upon making it into college, Joo Won's father came up with the
stage name Joo Won for him as the
Hangul pronunciation of the name sounds similar to "God-willing". With his love for singing, he became involved in
Frees, a co-ed television performance group formed by
SBS as part of a children's TV program. The show premiered in 2006, but Joo Won left the show quickly thereafter. Joo Won later auditioned for the
stage musical Altar Boyz, based on the American musical of the same name. This musical role was a first of many to come, as he later appeared in other musicals, namely
Singles,
Grease,
Sinsangnam and most notably,
Spring Awakening. Originally, Joo Won was the
understudy for Melchior in
Spring Awakening. However, the original actor who played Melchior left the musical midway through the production, thus allowing Joo Won to perform later on in the production. His performance in
Spring Awakening caught the attention of his future agency, Sim Entertainment.
2010–2012: Rising popularity and breakthrough Joo Won first appeared in the 2010 television drama
Bread, Love and Dreams as the antagonist to the titular character.
King of Baking, Kim Takgu recorded high viewership ratings of over 50%, earning "national drama" status, and Joo shot to fame. He took home the Best New Actor award at the
KBS Drama Awards and
Baeksang Arts Awards. The same year, Joo made his big-screen debut in the action crime film
S.I.U. alongside
Uhm Tae-woong. However, it was Joo's third small screen project
Bridal Mask that truly propelled him to mainstream popularity. He portrayed a pro-Japanese Korean police officer by day and a masked vigilante who fights for Korean independence by night. For his role in
Bridal Mask, Joo Won took home the Excellence award and Popularity award at the 2012
KBS Drama Awards. The same year, he starred opposite
Park Bo-young in the horror thriller ''
Don't Click, and joined the second season of the popular variety program 2 Days & 1 Night''.
2013–2017: Mainstream success In 2013, Joo starred in MBC's drama
7th Grade Civil Servant, based on the action-romance movie
My Girlfriend Is an Agent. The same year, Joo was offered his most challenging role; an
autistic savant who becomes a genius
pediatric surgeon for KBS's medical drama
Good Doctor. After four years of absence from the musical scene, Joo returned to the musical stage with the Korean version of
Ghost the Musical. Due to schedule conflicts, he has since stepped down from
2 Days & 1 Night to concentrate on his acting career. In late 2013, Joo starred in the romantic comedy film
Steal My Heart opposite
Kim Ah-joong. In 2014, Joo starred in
Fashion King, based on a popular
webtoon of the
same title. He returned to the small screen with ''
Naeil's Cantabile, the Korean adaptation of Nodame Cantabile''. In 2015, Joo starred in action thriller
Yong-pal, alongside
Kim Tae-hee. The drama garnered strong ratings and Joo won the Grand Prize (Daesang) at the
SBS Drama Awards. He next starred in the thriller
Fatal Intuition, which opened at the top of the box office, earning more than 1 million ticket sales. On November 3, 2015, Joo received the "Most Welcomed Actor" award at the second Asian Influence Awards Oriental Ceremony held in China. He then starred in the Korean-Chinese film
Sweet Sixteen, a romantic drama based on an Internet novel will depict the love story of three men and one woman. Joo's final project before enlistment was
My Sassy Girl, a historical remake of the
2001 hit film. The television series premiered in 2017.
2019–present: Comeback from military In 2020, Joo returned to television in the SBS science fiction romance drama
Alice. In 2022, he starred in the
Netflix film
Carter in the title role. In November 2022, Joo Won signed with Ghost Studio. ==Personal life==